Relative exercise intensity of long-distance marching (120 km in 4 days) in 153 subjects aged 69-87 years.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the relative exercise intensity (oxygen uptake during the march/maximal oxygen uptake, VO2march/VO2max) during a long-distance march in subjects or over 70 years of age. Secondly, the effect of hypertension, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases on the relative exercise intensity was evaluated. One hundred and fifty-three subjects, 97 men aged 76.7 (4.6) years and 56 women aged 72.8 (3.6) years who completed the 1993 Nijmegen day long-distance march (30 km x day(-1) on 4 consecutive days) participated in the study. Oxygen uptake (VO2) during walking at different velocities (v) was measured in a subgroup of nine men and nine women, selected randomly from the population under study. With these data, regression equations describing the relationship between VO2 and v were made. VO2march was estimated with the obtained regression equations from an average of the v(march) measured in all participants. VO2max was determined using incremental cycle ergometry in all subjects. VO2march was 13.7 (1.8) ml x kg(-1) x min(-1) in men and 15.2 (1.3) ml x kg x min(-1) in women at a mean v of 5 km x h(-1) in both sexes. This corresponded to 52% of VO2max in men and 63% in women. In both sexes subjects with cardiovascular and/or pulmonary diseases walked at a slower v and thus lower VO2march compared to subjects without these diseases. Due to the lower VO2max in subjects with these diseases there was no difference in the relative exercise intensity between the groups. A multiple linear regression analysis showed that and not age on the prevalence of hypertension, cardiovascular and/or pulmonary that VO2max was the most important predictor of the variance in self-selected v(march). This study demonstrates that these active people aged over 70 years could maintain a high relative exercise intensity during endurance walking on 4 subsequent days. Furthermore, it shows that the relative exercise intensity of marching is within the range recommended for improving fitness and reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Finally, these results demonstrate that VO2max has a more important influence on performance than does age or chronic diseases in active elderly people.